By Sam Boughedda
A Truist analyst raised the firm's rating on Norwegian Cruise Line (NYSE:NCLH) shares to Buy from Hold, increasing the price target, albeit only to $19 from $18 per share.
The analyst revealed that their conversations with senior executives at 'very large" travel agencies specializing in cruises, as well as data on future bookings and pricing, lead them to believe that booking volumes have "materially increased."
It is also the result of announcements in early to mid-August lifting most vaccine and testing rules. Bookings are said to be up nearly 30% compared to 2019 for the last three weeks of August and the first week of September.
"Since then, bookings have moderated to up MSD vs. 2019, still materially stronger than the approx. -15% to -10% pace for June & July. Additionally, we may have started to see the first signs of pricing power," the analyst wrote.
"Other good news is that cancellations and subsequent rebookings at lower prices, something that has plagued the industry all year, have significantly decreased over the past six weeks," he added.
In addition, when it came to bookings for the four weeks following the vaccine and testing changes, they observed it rose 2% to 3% compared to 2019 levels.
"Importantly, the greatest degree of strength is with luxury cruises, to which NCLH has the greatest exposure, whereas trends for mass market cruises remain more subdued," the analyst explained.